There seems to be a common theme about Nodoka's role in Windborne, and what effect she'll have on Ranma in the long term.What do you guys think?How much damage could Nodoka do?Or would she be a good influence?

Well, that all depends on what you think a good influence would be. So far, everything she has done has both worked out, and been in her daughters best interest, and she certainly approves of the idea of concubines. After all, most royal marriages are for politics, anyway, so it actually makes good sense. A lot of what Nodoka is doing seems to fall along the lines of a classic (idealistically) royal advisor. Sure, you've got wolf, but he's just there to serve.As ranma's mother, she wants Ranma to be a good queen, and is going off of Titania the first's own material for reference, so she's also doing her best to replicate the old fae court... So far, she hasn't really overstepped any boundaries, and has made sure to keep from forcing Ranma into anything. It seems that the major deal was the husband, which has been quasi-settled, so unless something else comes up, I'd actually say she's doing a good job. Ranma is going along with everything, and really doesn't appear to resent her mothers machinations (so far), so it's ok.

There once was a boy who turned into a girl,
his fiancee's cooking always made him hurl.
Instead of eating one day, he tried to throw it away, and now he has a bird's eye view of the world.

Yes Nodoka does seem to be using a gentle touch.The husband thing was a big part, but yeah... Ranma's engaged now.I guess there's the question of what Nodoka's long term plans are, and if Ranma will disagree with them.Heh "mother machinations"

I think that so far Nodoka hasn't done anything out of line for both a mother and for the first subject of a kingdom. All that she has done so far to influence Ranma is try and see her become, if nothing else, at least ajusted to her situation. The only thing that I would concider OOC is arranging the omai, but it does get explained off fairly well.

Heavy weaponry for a safer tomorow. - DOOM 3One more and it might be tough. - Cloud, Kingdom Hearts II

Colm wrote:I think that so far Nodoka hasn't done anything out of line for both a mother and for the first subject of a kingdom. All that she has done so far to influence Ranma is try and see her become, if nothing else, at least ajusted to her situation.

Good. I did want a Nodoka that was tyring to be nice here.

The only thing that I would concider OOC is arranging the omai, but it does get explained off fairly well.

Well, as for long terms, she really doesn't seem to have any insidious plots... I mean, surely she'll want Ranma to 'expand' the kingdom, (in more ways than one, I assume...) but otherwise, she seems seems content with Ranma's choices. And whenever she decides to push something, it's either with good reason, or by the book. If Ranma becomes worried about her followers making her too girly, she could just draft...I mean convert... er...convince, yeah, that's it, convince some people like Ryouga and what-not. That way she could have a bit more testosterone around, not to mention differing opions...

There once was a boy who turned into a girl,
his fiancee's cooking always made him hurl.
Instead of eating one day, he tried to throw it away, and now he has a bird's eye view of the world.

Yes, things may show up later as to what nodoka has in mind for Ranma, the Kingdom, etc... But so far, there's no evidence towards her charcter for that. And I can't really think of any cannon reasons for her not to simply be happy with how things are turning out... Really, it's all up to you whether to make her a true thorn in the side or not... I just can't see any holes or foreshadowing in the story to see it. I mean, sure, I could come up with theories or ideas, but they would currently have no basis. The only thing I could possibly imagine is that she might usurp the power, or force her will if Ranma starts directly opposing her ideas, like many parents would do if their children refused to do what they "recommend". Other than that, I got nuthin'...And you know how people will automatically adjust to new shperes of influence/change, etc. It's natural. So if Ranma wants to be less girly,she's going to need to find some subjects who won't treat her like a fairy queen. Sometimes we grow into the roles we're given, whether we like it, or not. Usagi's a good example of this. More and more, her "Royalness" shines through as the series goes along... This is similar.And I can only imagine just what Titania put in her books to tutor the new queen/subjects with. In this case, you might not need Nodoka to make plans at all.. In time, she could just be a nagging Luna figure, stating "a queen must be this way, and in the old kingdom, things were run as such, blah, blah, blah, yackity, yackity...." Y'see?

There once was a boy who turned into a girl,
his fiancee's cooking always made him hurl.
Instead of eating one day, he tried to throw it away, and now he has a bird's eye view of the world.

Lightspire wrote:And I can only imagine just what Titania put in her books to tutor the new queen/subjects with. In this case, you might not need Nodoka to make plans at all.. In time, she could just be a nagging Luna figure, stating "a queen must be this way, and in the old kingdom, things were run as such, blah, blah, blah, yackity, yackity...." Y'see?

Someone advising the magical queen has to have that role.And Wolf sure as well won't take it

Exactly! All he'd do is confirm or deny whatever nodoka says is in the books. And since he spent so many years translating them, he's definately an authority on what Queen -edit- Titania (Oopsie!) did and did not write. With his apathetic personality, (besides being protector and teacher of the queen, of course..) he would be an excellent source for fact checking..."Huh, whu? OH, yeah, your mom's right, your highness... tresspassers into fae territory WERE turned into nymphs... I'm not sayin' ya hafta do it, but Titania the first DID like her nymphs...." ::Gets a glazed look in his eyes and starts to drool:: Hey, it really could be like Luna and Artemis...huh. How about that....

There once was a boy who turned into a girl,
his fiancee's cooking always made him hurl.
Instead of eating one day, he tried to throw it away, and now he has a bird's eye view of the world.

If Nodoka is in-character, she'll do a lot of misguided damage before she understands Ranma is her own person. Then, she'll try to make up for it by being understanding and supportive. It's the oblivious kindly mother duality. (Odd how so many Ranma characters have extreme and opposite aspects to their personalities.)

Anchoku wrote:If Nodoka is in-character, she'll do a lot of misguided damage before she understands Ranma is her own person. Then, she'll try to make up for it by being understanding and supportive. It's the oblivious kindly mother duality. (Odd how so many Ranma characters have extreme and opposite aspects to their personalities.)

Misguided damage... yah lots of chance for that ^_^Nodoka is trying to help, and the road to hell is paved with such intentions

man- just had a vision. Nokoda sees her .....daughter.... as the mother of the fairy race. Meaning every new fairy is a grangdaughter! And the more subject she has, the more queenly she is. So the logical conclusin- She starts trying to make ranma pack as much 'turn humans into faeries magic' into a missile or ten, and launch them everywhere!On a more serious side of things, what happens when Nokoda finds out about Usagi? Will she start trying to egg ranma on to make her more queenly than Usagi? Will she insist that since Titana tought serinity, any knigdom Usagi makes is surbordanite to the Faerie kingdom? Will she extend her queenly training regimin to include meatball-head too? The posibilites are endless!